ANAHEIM – The Joe Torre era in Southern California began in hostile territory Thursday night as the newest Dodgers manager watched his team take part in an abbreviated Freeway Series at Angel Stadium.

Torre could be excused if he didn’t quite feel comfortable looking out at Mike Scioscia’s Angels in the opposing dugout. And it had nothing to do with the fact Torre no longer is wearing pinstripes.

The only American League team Torre did not have a winning record against in his 12 years with the Yankees was the Angels, who were guided by Scioscia for seven of those seasons.

“They’re a good team, I don’t care who they play,” Torre said. ” We don’t have to worry about these guys until I don’t know what it is, May or June or whenever it is we play them (in interleague action), but they are tough. The way Scioscia has that team programmed, they certainly don’t let you fall asleep.”

The Freeway Series was reduced to just Thursday’s game as the Dodgers will play the Boston Red Sox over the next three days. Saturday’s game will take place at a sold-out Coliseum as the Dodgers begin their season-long celebration of their 50th season in Los Angeles.

The Red Sox, who already have opened their regular season with a two-game split in Japan against the Oakland Athletics, will try to expel their jet lag during the three exhibition games.

The Angels, meanwhile, will finish off their regular-season preparations with a game at San Diego tonight and another at Angel Stadium against the Padres on Friday. The Angels will travel to Minnesota on Sunday in advance of their opener against the Twins on Monday.

In previous years, the Freeway Series was played over three games and was for bragging rights in the area. But with the dawn of interleague play, the games played between the teams before the season begins has lost its luster.

“I remember when I first came up, 1981 was my first Freeway Series and I remember coming to this ballpark and there were about 65,000 people here. It (put you) back in a baseball atmosphere,” Scioscia said. “It was a great way to bridge spring training to the regular season. I think there was probably a little more fan interest just because the Angels and Dodgers (could only) meet in the World Series.”